Subdeacon Joe Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 I see it more as 'respect'. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 I see a kid who may well turn out to be one of the valorous men of the near future. There is room for more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 Dated: October 14, 1944 for only 10-cents. I 'Googled' it and it was called 'Commando Kid'. Most appropriate. ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozark Huckleberry Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 I see the idea of stolen valor as more rooted in the intent -- kind of like the flag. There are a lot of people who might not check all the boxes on proper display of the U.S. flag, but they don't do it out of disrespect so they get a pass. Someone wants to wear a uniform as a way to show respect, that's one thing. Someone wants to wear a uniform to misrepresent themselves and/or gain something they haven't earned, that's something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joke 'um Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 That's my childhood, '61, '62, '63. The patches are the key. Use whatever vaguely military coat you have. A real helmet or just a liner was pure gold. Mom could sew a como helmet cover. But the patches . . . Get on your bike and go pick up beer and pop bottles to trade at the market. Take your money and head to the Surplus Store. Patches were about the only real military gear a kid could buy with pop bottle money, and they were SO COOOOOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Sheridan Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 I never served in the military, yet I've worn uniforms on occasion since I was a kid. The difference is I've never lied to people and told them I served. Nothing wrong with dressing up or re-enacting as long as you're not trying to claim you're something that you're not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 When I was in 4th grade all of us decided that to “play Army” we needed to look “Army”. So, we went on a mission to find surplus gear and clothing. I think we all had canteens and pocket knives but that was it...well, that and various toy guns. I had a Mattel M16. I had, for a short time, the very coolest gun in the neighborhood. I found a green Army shirt at the thrift store. It didn’t have patches but there was a bin that had various Army and Marine patches so I bought a few to have my Nanny sew onto my shirt. She sewed the patches on and then the weirdness began. My Dad got angry because I had no idea what the patches were for and they conflicted with one another. I guess 4th graders should know these things... My Uncle Tom told me I couldn’t wear the patches I had because of pretty much the same reasons as what my Dad stated. He was a Vietnam Vet so I asked him which patches I should wear. He had me take off my shirt. He took out his knife and he removed them all. I was pretty upset to say the least. I gave the patches to my friends. I still played Army and decided I was part of a covert force that wore no patches so that we couldn’t be identified. I also promoted myself to Sergeant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Sheridan Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 That's kinda sad, actually. You've got a kid too young to know what it's all about versus a vet who knows more than he cares to remember. When I was a kid I played war all the time, either by myself or with friends. It wasn't until my late teens that I began to understand that war is actually no fun at all. Probably around the same time that guys with uniforms started coming around my high school wanting us to sign up and play war for real! . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 Omagerd!! He’s got a GUN!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 I recently swapped a .380 mold to Major Crimes for a beautiful Australian slouch hat with emu plume. (I think I got the best of the deal!) I asked him if I could be accused of "stolen valor" if I wore it to an awards banquet. He replied that the only one who might be upset is the emu that supplied the plume! Thanks, Major! Hope your revolvers like the .380 balls!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 Crikey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raylan Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 To me, stolen valor is when an adult lies about military service with the intent to deceive, particularily when they do it for gain. That could be some one who never served or even a veteran who lies about his service. I would not include verterans who tell slight exagerations or who tell stories to annoying people to shine them. Stolen valor may or may not involve patches, uniforms, or medals. Stolen valor is not wearing medals or patches or uniforms as a reenactor, individuals who wear patches or medals or uniforms because they like them (depending on the individual situation this may or may not be in bad taste), or kids who wear them in play or in honor of the military or in honor of a family member. Of course YMMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 I think it was the photographer, not the kid who created the costume and “weapon”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punxsutawneypete Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 I had a toy Tommy gun with sound effects that I played with when I was a kid. I guess I would be in trouble on so many levels if that happened today instead of back around 1962. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 3 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: I think it was the photographer, not the kid who created the costume and “weapon”. Actually, Commando Kid is a painting, not a photograph. https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/artists/howard-scott/ Me - I don't see it as "stolen valor" (I'm sure that was meant as a joke). I also don't see it as "respect". What I see is "kid playing army". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted August 2, 2019 Author Share Posted August 2, 2019 51 minutes ago, Alpo said: Me - I don't see it as "stolen valor" (I'm sure that was meant as a joke). I also don't see it as "respect". What I see is "kid playing army". Give the man a kewpie doll! Exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 2 hours ago, Alpo said: Actually, Commando Kid is a painting, not a photograph. https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/artists/howard-scott/ Me - I don't see it as "stolen valor" (I'm sure that was meant as a joke). I also don't see it as "respect". What I see is "kid playing army". Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 As for Stolen Valor, I met a man at a church in Oregon that really took the cake for me in this regard. For about a year I went to bi-weekly meetings at a church in Oregon. The guy that took charge in many of these church meetings was a big guy. By big I mean overweight...really overweight. He always wore hats that had US Army logos and such. His name was/is John. The second time I met him I asked him if he was in the Army. He said “Yes, were you?” I said “No, I was in the Navy, but thanks for serving.” He laughed, clapped me on the shoulder and said “Well, I won’t hold that against you...Squid.” We had a little chuckle (in reality I wanted to punch him in the nose but we were at a church function) Anyway, overtime when he talked he would throw out statements regarding his time in the Army, being in foxholes, Army food, boot camp, being a sniper...Ding, ding, ding....bells went off in my head. This we had to talk about. My Uncle was a Sniper in Vietnam. I figured this guy was a shooter and I also figured I could definitely learn a thing or two about long range shooting from him. But, I didn’t really press the issue until I got to know him a little better. One day, when we had become friendlier I asked him about being an Army Sniper. He said when he was in the Army he served as a Sniper in Bosnia. I invited him to go shooting with me and he joyfully accepted. I asked him what guns he had, hoping he had a rifle set up like an Army sniper rifle. He said he had no guns. His wife wouldn’t allow it. Hmmm....strange. A “sniper” without guns... So, we went shooting. The first gun he wanted to shoot was my Glock 34. He didn’t know how to load the magazine....Hmmm...well, maybe he didn’t carry a handgun in the Army?.,,, He didn’t know how to hold the gun in a two handed grip and had I not stopped him he would have taken a chunk out of his thumb when the slide recoiled...Hmmm....he definitely didn’t use a handgun like this before...Maybe they still used revolvers! Yeah, that’s it. Nope, he didn’t know how to release the cylinder on an S&W revolver. The real shock came after I broke out the 2 AR-15s I had at the time. One had a red dot sight the other had a Leupold Compact 3-9x32 scope. I figured he would be familiar with these. He wasn’t. He did know how to load the mags into the guns but was puzzled on how get a round in the chamber. I figured he was just “rusty” so I went over the operation of an AR with him to “re-familiarize” him with them. I had targets set from 25 yards to 120 yards. He commenced to shooting the AR with the red dot sight. He wasn’t hitting much of what he was aiming at...kind of hard to do when slapping the trigger with your finger and jerking the rifle as the round goes off.... My suspicions that this guy was not a sniper were substantiated when he picked up the AR that I had assembled with a Ruger SR556 gas piston upper and I had installed a scope on it. Not a sniper scope, but a hunting scope with a standard Leupold Duplex reticle. I kind of apologized for the scope not being more appropriate for the task of accurate shooting at various ranges but I told him I liked the weight of it (that damned Ruger upper was heavy). He stared at me like I had just said something in Klingon. He looked through the scope and said “I only see one set of crosshairs, where are the other ones?” I said “Other one’s?” ”Yeah, like on my game at home...... I allowed my disappointment and anger stew as we went ahead and shot some more. He couldn’t understand why he was hitting the targets low at 25 yards. I explained trajectory to him.... Anyway, I let this entire episode stew in my mind for a few days. I really wasn’t sure how to confront him. Then he said the words that set me free. He told someone at one of our meetings that he started out as a Cook in the Army and he became a Sniper later on and that he served from 78 to 82. The Klaxon was blaring between my ears. It was all I could do not to jump up and scream at him. This mother........ was emulating Steven Segal in that stupid movie... I confronted him that day. I started with “The US went to Bosnia in the early 90’s. You said you were a Sniper in Bosnia. You served from 78 to 82. You cannot handle a firearm and know nothing that a Sniper would know. You have been lying to me and everyone else. Why?” I won’t bore you with everything he said but it turns out the only thing that was true was he did join the Army and he was a Cook. That was it. The Army canned him in 80 with a BCD (bad conduct discharge). I told him the honorable thing to do was to tell everyone at our next meeting and come clean. He did not so I quit attending. I did drop a dime on his &$$ though. He came clean eventually. I sicked the 80 something year old Marine that served at the Chosin Reservoir on him...I wish I would have been at that meeting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Eye Jim Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 13 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said: I recently swapped a .380 mold to Major Crimes for a beautiful Australian slouch hat with emu plume. (I think I got the best of the deal!) WAY OT, but I find the history of the Emu War highly entertaining. Oversimplified did one of the better renditions in my opinion... Apologies to Major Crimes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 6 hours ago, Alpo said: Actually, Commando Kid is a painting, not a photograph. https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/artists/howard-scott/ Me - I don't see it as "stolen valor" (I'm sure that was meant as a joke). I also don't see it as "respect". What I see is "kid playing army". Yup. Pretty much me from age 5 until I discovered girls. Found a steel out in a trash pile once. No liner so used a folded up towel. Mom wasn’t happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muley Gil SASS # 57795 Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 These days, if a child dressed like that, carrying his wooden Thompson and someone posted that picture on social media, even during summer vacation, he would probably be expelled from school BEFORE it starts back! What has this world come to anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Ron Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 Howdy, All very simple. Vets need to run for political office. Way too many pollyticians have no military experience. And it wouldn't hurt for vets to teach grade school. All I need to say. Just think about it. Best CR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muleshoe Bill SASS #67022 Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 18 minutes ago, Muleshoe Bill SASS #67022 said: This Yeah. Saw that the other day. CIB below jump wings, 2 NDSM ribbon, RVNCM to the left of a Good Conduct, 1st Sgt and Bird Col insignia, no branch, officer’s US brass on wrong. Not sure what’s going on there. Looks too slick and professional to be a selfie. Models? Some dumb advertisement? A big mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 Too young for those ranks, and too dumb to be in the same zip code as her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted August 3, 2019 Author Share Posted August 3, 2019 40 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said: 1st Sgt and Bird Col insignia, You never saw a First Sergeant Colonel? It is one and a quarter steps above a Sergeant Major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 Is that like Corporal Captain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 On 8/1/2019 at 12:26 PM, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said: When I was in 4th grade all of us decided that to “play Army” we needed to look “Army”. So, we went on a mission to find surplus gear and clothing. I think we all had canteens and pocket knives but that was it...well, that and various toy guns. I had a Mattel M16. I had, for a short time, the very coolest gun in the neighborhood. I found a green Army shirt at the thrift store. It didn’t have patches but there was a bin that had various Army and Marine patches so I bought a few to have my Nanny sew onto my shirt. She sewed the patches on and then the weirdness began. My Dad got angry because I had no idea what the patches were for and they conflicted with one another. I guess 4th graders should know these things... My Uncle Tom told me I couldn’t wear the patches I had because of pretty much the same reasons as what my Dad stated. He was a Vietnam Vet so I asked him which patches I should wear. He had me take off my shirt. He took out his knife and he removed them all. I was pretty upset to say the least. I gave the patches to my friends. I still played Army and decided I was part of a covert force that wore no patches so that we couldn’t be identified. I also promoted myself to Sergeant. Your uncle was a hard man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 33 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said: Your uncle was a hard man. Yeah, he was. After my Uncle Tom came back from Vietnam he had changed. He went when I was 7. He did one tour, came home and went back again. VC popped him in the knee and he came back home. He went away as a happy go lucky young man. He came back hard and mean. I understood why. He died at the age of 32 of a double heart attack. He was healthy up until then. I always wondered if Agent Orange was the reason. I’ll never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.